Electric railway.



N.- H. TURNER.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

APPLIoATIoN FILED 11.111. 29, 1911.

` Patented 111:11.w 5, 1912.

bezig@ NOEL H. TURNER, 0F VULCAN, MICHIGAN.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY. l

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l', NOEL H. TURN-nn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vulcan, in the county of Dickinson and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Railways, of which the following is a speciiication.

My. invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in electric-railways, and is :t'ully described and explained in the specication and. shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a plan View of a section of a railway embodying my invention, showing a car thereon, and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electrical connection.

Referring to the drawings, A are the rails of the track upon which the trucks of a car are run.v

B and B1 are the trucks of the car, each one carrying a collecting shoe, said. shoes being indicated by Z) and b1, respectively. On opposite sides of the track are electrical feedrails or conductors made up of separate successive sections, the rails on one side being indicated by C1, C2, C3, as illustrated, and the sections on the other side being indicated by D1, D2, D3, respectively. These sections of the conductor-rails are insulated from each other and from the ground and the sections upon the opposite sides of the track are staggered with respect to each other, or break joints, so that the oint between the adjacent sections upon one side of the track is in the center of the corresponding opposite section, as illustrated. Furthermore, the section D1 falls opposite the joint between the sections C2 and C3, the section D2 opposite the joint between the sections Cs and C1, and the section D3 opposite the joint between thc sections C1 and O2. Thus each section on a rail lies in its entirety opposite to the two sections upon the opposite conductor-rail having the remaining two numbers.

El, E2, and E3 are three dynamos which may be independently driven, or may have their rotors mounted, it desired, upon a single shaft. The three generators have their two poles connected to the correspondingl numbered sections in the opposite conductorrails. That is, the poles of the generator El are connected to the conductor-rail sections Cl and. D1, etc. Each conductor-section is in length two-thirds ot the distance between the trucks upon the cars adapted to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 29, 1911.

Patented Mar. 5, 1912.

serial No. 617,602.

be used upon the track. The. result of this construction is that the collector-Shoes b and o1, carried by the trucks, will at all times lie upon the correspondingly numbered section of the conductor-rails, so that at any given moment the current from a single generator will 'flow through the car. As the car moves along, it will be supplied with current successively by the three generators. The correspondingly numbered sections of the conductor-rail are, however, so spaced with reference to each other that no section lies opposite a correspondingly numbered section and therefore, there is no danger of a shortcircuit transversely of the track. It is thus possible to build a system with bare conductor-rails which can be crossed with impunity.

I have illustrated a system embodying the least possible number of generators which can be used and still obtain the benefits inherent in my invention. It is, of course, desirable to get the greatest possible longitudinal separation between the closest parts of Correspondingly-connected rails in the two opposite conductors. If only two generators were used, the greatest possible degree of separation that could be secured would be to place the rails in alternation, the sections connected with the two generators lying' opposite to each other, that is, the section No. l opposite section No. 2, and so on. In such a construction a shortcircuit could be obtained between two No. 1 sections by anything lying at the very smallest angle to the track. As the number of generators is increased, as long as the correspondingly-connected sections in one rail are put exactly opposite the center of the gap between the correspondingly-connected sections of the opposite rail, the distance which must be bridged to make a short-circuit becomes gradually greater. lt will be understood, of course, that the distance between the collector-shoes is relatively iiXed on account of practical considerations connected with car building. lVith three generators, as here illustrated, each rail will be, in length two-thirds of the distance between the trucks and the longitudinal distance which must be bridged to make a short-circuit will be one-third of that distance or, in practice, something over ten feet. Should four generators be used, the sect-ions will be correspondingly shorter and the correspondingly numbered sections heilig placed opposite the center of the gap between the corresponding sections in the opposite conductor, section l will lie directly opposite section 3 in the other rail. In this case the conductorsections will each be made one-half the distance between the trucks, and it would be necessary to span an equal longitudinal distance to make a short-circuit. If five successive sections were used and live generators, the same staggering arrangements being adopted, that is, section l in one rail being placed midway between two section ls in the opposite rail, each section could be made two-fifths of'the distance between trucks and itwould be necessary to bridge a longitudinal distance of three-ifths of the distance between the trucks to get-a short-circuit. In this way-and in an obvious manner, the same principle as is here. outlined can be used with any number 'of generators, the sections being correspondingly shortened, and the danger of a short-circuit correspondinglylessened.v However, since the increase in the number of sections will greatly increase the expense in lead wire and in track-laying, and since a gap l0 ft. long and the full width of the track is probably quite sufficient for practical safety under allconditions, I prefer the arrangement here shown. However, Ido not intend, by having described this preferred form in detail to limit myself'thereto, my intention being in the accompanying claims to set out all the novelty which is inherent in the construction illustrated as broadly as the state of the art* will permit.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentel. In an electrical-railway system, two parallel conductors, each divided into successive sections insulated from each other, more than two generators, leads from the poles of the generators running to the conductor sections, andV connecting them in groups, the lead from one pole ofteach generator running successively to correspond# ing sections of each group in one conductor and the lead from the other pole of each generator running successively to corresponding sections of each group in the other conductor, the sections in each group being equal in number to the generators and being arranged in the same order, the sections in one conductor being placed opposite the gaps between the correspondingly-connected vsections in the opposite conductor, and a. carhaving two shoes contacting with the two conductors and separated longitudinally by such distance that the two shoes lie always on sections connected to the same generator.

2. In an electric-railway system, two parallel conductors, each divided into successive sections insulated from each other, three generators, leads from the poles of the generators running to the conductorsections,

and connecting them in groups, the lead:

ing two generators, as illustrated, Yanda carr having two shoes contacting with the two conductors andseparated longitudinallyY by such distance that the two always lie on the sections connected to the same generator.

In testimonyV whereof I'have hereunto set my hand and aflixed my sealthis 28th day of February, 1911.

NOEL H. TURNER. [n s] In the presence of two subscribing wit` nesses- A. F. BRAonErr, RAYMOND TURNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

